


sweet dreams

by orphan_account



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Rated T for language, and mentions of wallus reading bodice-ripper grocery store books, give this smooth brained little man some cuddles..., habit smells like kids toothpaste because i think its funny, kamal gets hugged, poorly used new yorker slang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 12:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19745683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: habit literally has no concept of boundaries between a boss and an employee and kamal does nothing to remedy this (because he is gay.)





	sweet dreams

What the hell was Habit’s deal? It was 11:30 PM, way past the stringently enforced bedtime, but all the lights were on in the office. Habit did this a lot, because apparently the guy has no concept of things like ‘electricity bills.’ Kamal was always the one who had to take care of that stuff. The money didn’t come out of his pocket, but it was still annoying, probably because he was used to living a more frugal lifestyle. 

Back in New York, the rent was so high that every little bit made a difference. There were times when Kamal would shower at the YMCA instead of at his apartment just to save on water. Not that he was poor or anything, he was just trying to save up. Move somewhere out of state where he could get away from the hustle and bustle. Nevermind that. It ultimately didn’t matter to him how Habit wasted his money. Plus, the dude was definitely loaded. Like, wicked loaded.

Maybe it was because he was distracted by wondering exactly  _ where _ Habit got all that money, but Kamal absentmindedly switched on the light that he had just turned off a few seconds ago. Ugh. He turned it off again, then on, then off. Just a silly little nervous tic. He didn’t really have anything to be worried about, but he had been described as ‘high strung,’ ‘overly sensitive,’ and, by one of his college professors, ‘an absolute fucking nervous wreck.’ Personally, Kamal would beg to differ on the last one, and it wasn’t like he was bugging out every day or anything, he was just.. Safety cautious. And maybe a  _ little _ anxious.

Speaking of anxious, Habit’s office was pretty weird in the dark. The murals he had started painting on the walls were mad creepy. The faint light from the moon outside the window made long shadows all around the room. And it was always brick as fuck in there, even in the middle of summer. Kamal rubbed his arms. It had to be 60 degrees, at the  _ most _ . Just another expensive bill. Sighing, he turned on his heel and was suddenly staring at Dr. Habit’s chest. 

“Jesus fuc--!” Kamal cut himself off before he actually cursed. His boss did not approve of foul language. “Jeez louise, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” He had to tilt his head up slightly to try and look Habit in the eyes. Kamal wasn’t a short man, nor was he particularly tall; he liked to consider himself a very average guy. He was usually at eye level with most people, so it was always weird having to strain to look at Habit. “Uh.. What’s up, Doc?” 

“Kamal!” There’s that trademark enthusiasm. “Oh, my friend Kamal!” Yes, that’s me, thought Kamal. Well, not the friend part. Not  _ really _ . For all his bitterness about Habit’s various quirks, Kamal didn’t mind the guy at all. Actually kind of liked him, liked him more than most bosses he’d had. He was sweet and enthusiastic and very friendly, a little like a poorly trained dog. He was also obviously not fit to be running any kind of business, much less something like a wellness retreat. But Kamal wasn’t really fit to be a personal assistant either. Just because “dental assistant” has “assistant” in the name doesn’t mean he’d had any real secretarial training. They were both probably incompetent, which wasn’t  _ good _ , but it also didn’t give Kamal any room to judge. 

Still, he would be hard pressed to say he considered Habit his “friend.” He was just this weird, enigmatic figure who sometimes told him what to do. But apparently his boss had it in his head that they were the best of pals, and Kamal wasn’t going to try and argue against that. Judging from how badly Habit misread social cues, he might end up with the impression that he wanted to get down with him or something. “So, uh. Pretty late, huh?” Habit didn’t acknowledge him.

“Kamal, my be-e-e-st friend,” Habit said, whimsically drawing the ‘e’ out, “I’ve been noticing, you seem.. Un-habby?” Uh oh. This was a recurring problem with them. His boss had a fixation on other people’s emotional state, usually because they weren’t ‘acting happy’ enough. Kamal wasn’t really sure what acting happy meant to Habit. It wasn’t like he was wrong, Kamal had never been an especially cheerful person, but he certainly didn’t walk around depressed all the time either. He was pretty nervous, yeah, but everybody has their own cross to bear and chronic neuroticism was his. 

“Oh, no, don’t worry. I’ve been doing real good, y’know, fresh mountain air and all that.” He even smiled for emphasis, although it might not have been super convincing. He squinted to try and get a read on Habit’s expression, but it was too dark to see anything but his general outline. “Hmmmm.. Well, if you say so...” Phew. That was a close one. Usually he had to reassure Habit that everything was  _ fine _ , don’t worry about it, a few times. But it was pretty late and he probably wanted to get to bed just as much as Kamal did.

He probably would’ve started heading to the waiting room if he hadn’t suddenly been pulled into a hug. It was so sudden that he didn’t have any time to react. One second he was wondering which of his toothbrushes he should use that night, and the next he was getting smothered in the huge collar of Habit’s coat. 

Kamal had thought that he would be the type to try and run or at least protest a  _ little _ when put into a situation like this. But no. Of course not. Instead, he went limp. He felt like a kitten being held by the scruff of its neck and he probably would’ve fallen over if Habit wasn’t holding onto him. The smell of pennies and strawberry toothpaste, the sickly-sweet kind that kids use, was just overwhelming. 

“Just you know, I am always here to talk to you if you are ever sad!” Habit squeezed him hard. “Good old Doctor Habit will always turn a frownie up-side-down! That’s what I’m here for!” He squeezed him again for good measure, but still didn’t let go. Instead, he rested his chin affectionately on the top of Kamal’s head. 

This was supremely not cool. It had been a good long while since anybody had hugged Kamal, but getting cuddled by his boss in a dark room was definitely not the ideal solution to that. It was also probably the beginning scenario for one of those weird sex novels that Wallus loved to read, and considering that made Kamal start to sweat despite the temperature. Was Habit coming on to him? No. Definitely not. Perish the thought. Kill the thought. Shoot the thought in the head and burn the body.

This had to be some sort of bizarre display of appreciation for the work he had been doing. Or something. Kamal probably shouldn’t try to decipher Habit’s actions. Very little of what he did made any sense from a business standpoint and so it followed that very little of what he did made sense from a social standpoint. After what felt like forever (but was probably only three or four minutes, which was still way too long to hug somebody) Habit let go. Kamal stumbled back, dazed. “Don’t you feel better? A hug before bed-time will give you sweet dreams! I read that in Tim’s maganzine.” 

“Uh, uh-huh, yeah. And it sure does look like it’s bedtime for bonzo, yep, I gotta skedaddle. See you later, Doc!” Habit waved, and even though Kamal couldn’t see his face there was an aura of borderline smug satisfaction radiating off of him. 

Later, once he was safely ensconced in his room and had brushed and flossed a sufficient number of times, Kamal curled up on his bed and tried to put the whole ordeal out of his mind. Just another one of Habit’s weird outbursts. He’d just make sure to get in and out of the office as soon as he could when he had to turn out the lights. Easy peasy.

He did have good dreams, though.

**Author's Note:**

> this takes place a while before game events and kamal isn't super familiar with habit yet. i headcanon him as being from new york, and he uses slang occasionally (to clarify, "brick" means cold.) also as always comments/criticisms/concerns/calling me a dumb pee pee idiot are all greatly appreciated.


End file.
